Gear Oil Analysis

Chem-Tech® is a leading service provider for Gear Oil analysis services. Gearboxes or Gear systems are needed to be checked for their proper functioning. Direct method for checking of the same is to check the gear oil for contamination, wearing analysis. The most expected concerns for contamination of gear oil are Dust, Dirt, Water and Wearing of metal components used.Chem-Tech® analyses oil samples and helps customers overcome such problems by trending oil analysis data.

Gear Oils undergo rigorous stresses under application, hence should be monitored carefully for wearing of the machine. Analyzing gear oils for wear metal analysis gives a direct idea on wear and tear of the component or the machine.

Chem-Tech® offers Gear oil Analysis programs in two packages:

Basic Program monitors Gear Oils for its further usability while Advance package is designed for monitoring the wear and tear of the machine & particulate contamination.

Predictive maintenance & condition monitoring of gear systems through oil analysis is very effective way for:

Extension of oil change period

Improve Equipment cost

Prevent unnecessary oil change cost

Contamination Control

Predicting wearing of the components inside the gear systems

Predict failures & Downtime Cost

Gear Oil Analysis Programs at Chem-Tech® are designed to monitor following trends in properties of Oils used:

Click to get list of Tests conducted by the laboratory on Gear Oils:

Kinematic Viscosity is a measurement of the resistance of the oil to flow through a capillary tube of the viscometer. It is the most fundamental property of a lubricant. Viscosity of lubricants is measured in case of fresh oils to check the Grade of the oil . in case of used oils it gives idea about change in physical properties due to oxidation, dilution or any external contamination. It is the most fundamental property for testing of any lubricant or petroleum product.

Methods Adopted by Chem-Tech for Viscosity Determination:

Total Acid Number determines the amount of acid present in the lubricant. Acidity of the lubricant increases due to the stresses or environmental factors affecting the lubricant. Excess amount of acid in the lubricant will lead to corrosion or failure of equipment.

Methods Adopted by Chem-Tech for Water / Moisture Content Determination:

Elemental Analysis by ICP determines the amount of Wear metals , Contaminant Metals and Additive Metals present in a Lubricant. Elemental Analysis can detect upto 24 elements in the lubricant. These includes all the particles present in oil upto 5-10 microns in size. It gives an idea about the amount of Wear and Contamination in the Lubricant. It is one of the primary tests conducted for Trend Analysis or Predictive Maintenance of the Equipment.

Test Methods adopted by Chem-Tech for Elemental Analysis:

Oxidation measurement by FTIR is the measurement of degradation of Oil due to the operating conditions of the equipment and breakdown of additives in the Lubricant or Oil. Increase in Oxidation directly affects the acidity of the oil. Increase in the Oxidation of Oil increases the acidity of the lubricant.

Methods adopted by Chem-Tech Laboratories for Oxidation Analysis:

PQ index determines the amount of ferrous debris in a lubricant. This is a very useful method for trend analysis and predictive maintenance of Equipments and machines. This method is not an absolute measurement of ferrous debris, it only gives indication about the amount of ferrous debris present in oil.

In this method the oil sample is exposed to magnetic field and amount of magnetic flux generated in calculated in manufacturer units.

This method is always used in conjunction with Elemental analysis, Particle Count or Ferrography Tests.

Ferrography or Wear debris analysis determines the type of wearing and analyses sample for wear pattern, size and shape of wear elements and also any external contaminants present in a lubricant. Ferrography gives lot of information on the functioning of the equipment. Abnormal wear pattern may indicate possible failure of equipment, improper film forming capacity of oil, inappropriate type and quality of oil used.

Particle count test determines the particle size and size distribution of the contaminants or wear particles present in oil. It is a very fundamental test to determine the amount of contamination present in oil . This method measures all types of particles which includes wear, dirt , debris, fibres, bacterial growth etc. This test is mainly performed on filtered systems to monitor filter efficiency and cleanliness of oil.

The result of the test is formulated with respect to the standard test method ISO 4406, NAS 1638 or SAE.